Athletic glove with hand-exercising features

ABSTRACT

A glove includes a plurality of finger enclosures. Each of the finger enclosures is for accommodating a respective finger of the wearer&#39;s hand. The glove also includes a plurality of resistance elements. Each of the resistance elements is attached to a respective one of the finger enclosures. The resistance elements provide a force for resisting a closing motion of the wearer&#39;s hand. The glove further includes a glove body that joins together the finger enclosures. Each of the finger enclosures includes a respective exterior anterior surface for gripping a ball. At least one of the exterior anterior surfaces has a tacky property for aiding in securing the wearer&#39;s grip on the ball.

BACKGROUND

Gloves for the orthopedic treatment of hand injuries have been proposed, for example, in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2012/0167272 by Scaff or U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,360 issued to Carr. The purpose of these gloves is to allow the wearer to strengthen his or her hand by providing spring-loaded or elastic band resistance elements that resist movement of the wearer's hand. As the wearer moves his or her hand while wearing the glove the resistance provided by the resistance elements causes the hand movement to become a stress-bearing exercise, thereby over time leading to strengthening of the soft tissue of the hand.

It has not heretofore been recognized that it would be desirable to provide an athletic glove, suitable for use by a participant in a ball sport such as football or soccer, with a strengthening property such that the wearer of the glove obtains benefits of a strengthening, resistance-based exercise workout for his or her hand while participating in a sports activity while wearing the glove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a glove provided according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view along the arrow lines 2-2 of the glove of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a glove 102 provided according to some embodiments. The glove 102 includes finger enclosures 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112, for respectively accommodating the wearer's thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger and little finger. It will be noted that the wearer's hand is not illustrated in the drawing. The glove 102 as portrayed is for the wearer's right hand but in other embodiments a glove for the left hand may be provided, or a set of similar gloves for both hands may be provided. It will also be noted that the term “finger” as used in this document will be understood to include a wearer's thumb.

The glove 102 also includes a glove body indicated generally at 114. As is conventional, the glove body 114 joins together the finger enclosures 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112, and is shaped and sized to accommodate the palm and back of the hand of the wearer. The overall shape and size of the glove 102 may be conventional. The glove 102 may be produced in various sizes to accommodate the varying sizes of wearer's hands.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the glove 102 taken at a side portion of the glove body 114. In some embodiments, the palm or anterior portion 116 of the glove body 114 may be formed of a first material, while the posterior portion 118 (for covering the back of the hand) of the glove body 114 may be formed of a second material that is different from the first material. In some embodiments the second material (for the posterior portion 118) may be a fabric exhibiting stretch characteristics such as a nylon-spandex blend. The first material (for the anterior portion 116) may be formed from a plastic or vinyl sheet. The anterior and posterior portions 116 and 118 may be sewn together at the side of the glove body 114 as indicated at 120 in FIG. 2. The first material may have a tacky property at least at an exterior anterior surface 122 of the anterior portion 116 of the glove body 114, such that the tacky property aids the wearer in securing the wearer's grip on a ball such as a football or a soccer ball. For purposes of this disclosure and the appended claims, the exterior anterior surface 122 of the anterior portion 116 of the glove body 114 will be considered to have a tacky property if it has a greater coefficient of friction than the material (i.e., the second material) from which the posterior portion 118 is formed.

In some embodiments, the anterior and posterior portions of the glove body 114 may be both substantially formed of the same material such as a fabric or cloth material, with the exterior anterior surface 122 of the glove body 114 treated or embedded with a resin or other suitable material to enhance the coefficient of friction of the exterior anterior surface 122. The treatment with resin or the like may occur before or after the material is sewn together to from the glove body 114.

The sectional drawing provided in FIG. 2 may also be understood to represent a cross-section of a typical one of each of the finger enclosures 104, 106, 108, 110 and 112, such that the anterior portion of each finger enclosure may be formed of the first material and the posterior portion of the finger enclosure formed of the second material, and also such that the exterior anterior surface of the respective finger enclosure has the same tacky property referred to above in connection with the anterior portion of the glove body 114. In some embodiments, the general construction of the glove may proceed by sewing together two hand-shaped sheets, one of the first material and one of the second material, so that the sheet of the first material forms the entire palm side of the glove 102 and the sheet of the second material forms the entire back side of the glove 102. The sewing may be along the respective edges of the two sheets, leaving an opening at the wrist. In such embodiments, it will be appreciated that the entire exterior surface of the palm of the glove 102 and all of the exterior anterior surfaces may have the tacky property.

According to another feature of the glove 102, it includes resistance elements 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132, all shown in FIG. 1. The resistance elements may each be constituted by a respective elastic strap. It will be seen that the resistance element 124 runs along the length dimension of the finger enclosure 104 from near the tip 134 of the finger enclosure 104 to the glove body 114. Similarly, the resistance element 126 runs along the length dimension of the finger enclosure 106 from near the tip 136 of the finger enclosure 106 to the glove body 114; the resistance element 128 runs along the length dimension of the finger enclosure 108 from near the tip 138 of the finger enclosure 108 to the glove body 114; the resistance element 130 runs along the length dimension of the finger enclosure 110 from near the tip 140 of the finger enclosure 1110 to the glove body 114; and the resistance element 132 runs along the length dimension of the finger enclosure 112 from near the tip 142 of the finger enclosure 112 to the glove body 114.

In some embodiments, the resistance elements 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132 may be sewn directly to the back of the glove 102, i.e, to the second material, where the back of the glove is formed of the second material and the palm side of the glove is formed of the first material. In other embodiments, the resistance elements may be secured to the glove body and finger enclosures by hook-and-loop fasteners as disclosed in the above-referenced patent application no. 2012/0167272, which is incorporated herein by reference. In other embodiments the resistance elements may be constituted at least in part by springs, as disclosed in the above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,360, which also is incorporated herein by reference.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the glove-body ends of the resistance elements 124, 126, 128, 130 and 132 terminate at different respective locations of the glove body 114. However, in other embodiments, the two or more of such ends of the resistance elements may terminate at substantially the same location on the glove body 114 and thus may be sewn together. Thus, for example, all five of the resistance elements (in a configuration not shown in the drawing) may be anchored together at their respective glove-body ends by being sewn together.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the glove 102 may include a closure 150 attached to a proximal portion 152 of the glove body 114. The closure 150 may be constituted by a hook-and-loop fastener comprising a hook portion 154 and a loop portion 156. The closure 150 is shown in an open position to allow insertion of the wearer's hand into the glove 102. Once the glove 102 is on the wearer's hand, the loop portion 156 may be secured to the hook portion 154 to place the closure 150 in a closed condition to secure the glove 102 to the wearer's hand and wrist.

In use, the wearer/athlete may wear a glove such as the glove 102 on one or both of his/her hands while engaging in practice and/or game activities. For example, in the case of a football quarterback, the wearer may wear the glove 102 only on his/her throwing hand and may engage in a passing drill in which the wearer repeatedly catches and throws the football. In doing so, the wearer repeatedly opens and closes his/her hand and generally engages in a throwing motion with his/her hand. During at least part of the opening/closing of the hand and/or the throwing motion, the resistance elements may provide resistance forces to the hand's movement, thereby imparting a strengthening resistance-based exercise workout to the wearer's hand at the same time that the wearer is engaged in an athletic practice or game activity. Thus the use of the glove by the wearer during practice and/or game situations may increase the conditioning and strengthening benefits of such activities, leading to greater fitness of the wearer's hand and to greater proficiency than may be achievable for the wearer without use of the glove 102. At the same time, because of the tacky property on the exterior anterior surface of at least part of the glove 102, the wearer may be assured of a satisfactory or superior grip on the ball, thereby aiding the wearer in successfully passing the football in a desired manner.

In other use situations, the glove 102 may be used by a soccer goalkeeper. In such situations, for example, left- and right-handed versions of the glove 102 may be provided and worn and the wearer may engage in goal keeping drills and/or game situations, repeatedly catching the soccer ball, and throwing or drop-kicking the ball to simulate or actually perform clearing the ball from the goal area. Again the benefits provided to the wearer may include a resistance-based exercise workout during practice or game situations, leading to strengthening of the wearer's hand or hands and greater proficiency in the performance of the wearer's sports activities.

It is also within contemplation of the invention that a glove of the type described herein may be used by lacrosse players, or by baseball players while engaging in batting practice or while batting in game situations. Other athletic or practice uses of the glove 102 are also contemplated in addition to the examples set forth above.

The several embodiments described herein are solely for the purpose of illustration. The various features described herein need not all be used together, and any one or more of these features may be incorporated in a single embodiment. Therefore, persons skilled in the art will recognize from this description that other embodiments may be practiced with various modifications and alterations. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A glove comprising: a plurality of finger enclosures, each for accommodating a respective finger of a wearer's hand; a plurality of resistance elements, each attached to a respective one of the finger enclosures, the resistance elements providing a force for resisting a closing motion of the wearer's hand; and a glove body joining together the finger enclosures, each of the finger enclosures and the glove body including a respective exterior anterior surface for gripping a ball; wherein at least one of said exterior anterior surfaces has a tacky property for aiding in securing the wearer's grip on the ball.
 2. The glove according to claim 1, wherein each of the resistance elements includes an elastic strap that runs along a length dimension of a respective one of the finger enclosures.
 3. The glove according to claim 2, wherein each elastic strap is attached to the respective one of the finger enclosures by at least one hook-and-loop fastener.
 4. The glove according to claim 1, wherein each of the resistance elements includes at least one spring.
 5. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of finger enclosures includes a total of five finger enclosures for accommodating all four fingers and a thumb of the wearer's hand.
 6. The glove according to claim 5, wherein all of the exterior anterior surfaces of the finger enclosures have the tacky property.
 7. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the at least one exterior anterior surface is embedded with a resin to provide the tacky property.
 8. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the finger enclosures and the glove body are formed of cloth.
 9. The glove according to claim 1, further comprising a closure attached to a proximal portion of the glove body for securing the glove at the wearer's wrist. 